Richard King was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

between 1640 and 1643. He supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

side in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. King was elected

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

Melcombe Regis Melcombe Regis is an area of Weymouth in Dorset, England. Situated on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour and originally part of the waste of Radipole, it seems only to have developed as a significant settlement and seaport in the 13th centu ...

on 4 February 1628. In April 1640, King was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

in the Short Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Melcombe Regis in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

in November 1640 King is recorded in an incident in 1641 after George Digby was accelerated to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. Digby's younger brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

perched himself on a ladder at the door of the chamber which the speaker,

William Lenthall William Lenthall (1591–1662) was an English politician of the English Civil War, Civil War period. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons for a period of almost twenty years, both before ...

took as an act of disrespect and insubordination and told him to take his place, and not to sit upon the ladder as if he were going to be hanged. King complained that the Speaker had transgressed his duty in using so disgraceful a speech to so noble a gentleman and after some turmoil obtained a conditional apology.Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History S. Proceedings (Volume 16).
/ref> King supported King Charles and was disabled from sitting in parliament on 27 February 1643. King died between 1643 and 1645.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Richard Year of birth missing Year of death missing English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Recorder (judge) 1640s deaths 17th-century English judges